Adopted By Polly Gray

Chapter 24: New York City

After what felt like an eternity of being on the boat heading to America, Starlene wanted to kiss the ground once they docked in New York. She spent the past five days on the boat dealing with terrible seasickness. Johnny tried his best to keep the ill girl in good spirits while Franny took over nursing duties for the poor girl. Once in New York the group would head to Franny's family apartment in the city and stay there for a bit until Franny's mother got to New York as well. Then the entire family would travel out to California together. The city was so different from Birmingham. It was booming with life, excitement, and a mixture of different cultures that Starlene has never seen before. There was a rush in the air as they drove to the apartment. Starlene watched out the window of the car as people rushed around in cars and on the sidewalk heading to wherever they are going. The buildings were taller than trees and the streets were actually paved instead of dirt roads. There were trolley cars and regular vehicles with not a horse in sight. The atmosphere here was completely different than back home and Starlene honestly was enjoying it. This new adventure she was on was really interesting to her and she wanted to explore New York City some more.

As the young girl daydreamed out the window of what life could be like here in the states the car pulled up to a building that looked like some type of mansion. Some men in fancy uniforms came over and opened the car doors.

"Welcome to the Dakota, miss." The gentleman said with a warm smile as he held Starlene's door open and offered her a hand to help her out of the car. She shyly thanked him as she got out of the car and looked around.

"Careful with that luggage, Lou! I have some valuables in there that I would hate to have broken!" Franny yelled as she made her way into the lobby.

"C'mon Starlene! You're going to love this place." Johnny called out to the young girl and motioned her to follow him.

Starlene grabbed her bags that she's had with her since being abducted from Polly's house back in Birmingham and followed the young boy inside. Walking into the lobby Starlene couldn't help but stop and look around at everything. The wood paneling, marble mixed with bronze, the elevator, the staircases, it all was beautiful. Who knew life could be this luxurious? She followed the group she was with to the elevator and they rode it up to the penthouse level. There they entered Franny's family apartment which was to say the least, a lot more than what Starlene thought the apartment would be. It was nothing like the hole in the wall place her cousin Ada lived in. It was like a whole house. Multiple bedrooms, a dining room, a study, multiple bathrooms, a lounge, a kitchen, you name it this apartment most likely had it.

"Wow, Franny, this place is beautiful." Starlene spoke as she finished walking around the apartment and joined everyone back in the lounge.

"Thank you sweetheart. Your father went downstairs to help with the rest of the luggage but when he's done we thought about taking you out to see the city. I figured we could do some shopping, get you some new clothes since you didn't bring many with you. Then we could go get some dinner. I know it's probably sudden since we just got off the boat but I'd figured since i'm working quite a bit the next few nights today would be our best bet."

"I'd love to, thank you. Where should I put my things?"

Franny smiled, she was hoping after their extremely rocky start that Starlene would grow to trust her and eventually Jones as well and realize they only want to give her a good life.

"The large bedroom on the left is your father's and mine. The one across from it is my parents, but any other room is yours for the taking. Feel free to have whatever one you want!"

Starlene went to leave the room before stopping and turning around to face Franny again, "What rooms are the boys?"

Franny sat down in her chair with a glass of champagne she had gotten for herself, "The boys have their own apartment on the floor below us. Just because they work for my family doesn't mean they should have to be around us all the time. They deserve to have their own space too."

The young girl nodded before heading off to pick out her bedroom and get settled in before hitting the town for the first time.

After resting a bit and freshening up Franny, Jones, and Starlene went out to explore New York City. Starlene was almost overwhelmed with the sites and sounds. There was so much to see and do and she wanted to explore it all. Franny took Starlene into Macy's a popular store that had all the latest fashion trends. Starlene was under the impression that maybe she would get a new dress and possibly a new coat but instead they left the store with four bags filled with clothes all for her that Franny made Jones carry. After some shopping they grabbed a bite to eat at one of Franny's favorite restaurants, Katz's Delicatessen. After that they dropped the bags of clothes back off at the apartment before going out to see some more of the city before nightfall. It was a magical evening for the young Gray girl. Who knew there could be so much more to life outside of Birmingham? She took in every single second admiring every building, every street, everything she could see, feel, smell, and touch. Starlene wanted this memory ingrained into her mind forever. You only experience your first reactions to something new once and she wanted to treasure the feelings she felt right now for the future. Deep down she knew she shouldn't be having as much fun as she was, after all she was still a child who was kidnapped from her home with a whole family she had her entire life, but with all the truths that had come to light lately she was starting to wonder if being with the Shelby's was the best thing for her. Perhaps she isn't meant to be with them at all. Of course this doesn't mean she wants to be with Franny and Jones, she trusted Franny but honestly wanted no relationship with her father. But, perhaps, she was meant to be on her own, create her own life, her own family. Have an identity of her own away from everyone who wanted to "claim" her as theirs and just be herself and belong to herself. Sure, right now she is only 12 and can't run off on her own, yet, but maybe with the connections Franny has she can discover who she is truly meant to be and where she is meant to go. Only time will tell and Starlene couldn't wait.

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